Dichotomy

CARTER

"Are you going to walk with me to school?" Charlotte asked.

The wolf had been sitting patiently, seemingly waiting for her, when she turned toward the main road. It wasn't completely unexpected. Ever since her foraging misadventure he had become her shadow. Anytime she went outside, he followed her.

The unnerving feeling of being so close to a wild animal was slowly slipping away. He helped her more than once and he had never tried to harm her. Innocent until proven guilty, she had decided.

Gio was pleased his mate was beginning to accept his presence. He had been trying very hard to appear docile.

The wolf swished his tail, which was quite a contrast to his usually serious demeanor, Charlotte laughed. The more she got to know the wolf the stranger he seemed. She enjoyed their weird little relationship though.

At times she found herself envious of his independence. He didn't need anyone. He survived on the land, and he could take care of himself. That independence was something Charlotte had always longed for.

"Alright, come on silver-eyes, we can't be late." Charlotte teased, brushing past him.

Being called silver-eyes was better than wolfy, Gio decided as he quickly jumped up to follow her. He always enjoyed spending time with his mate, even if it was just walking to school.

Sometimes when the wolf looked at Charlotte, she felt that warm tingly feeling. The same one she had when she dreamed about the wolf and the handsome man. Charlotte shook it off as her body craving intimacy. Sure, she was attracted to the muscular dream man, but she was not attracted to the wolf in the same way.

It was odd though, ever since that night she frequently had dreams of the man, sometimes it was just the man and sometimes it was the man and the wolf.

The wolf stayed by her side as Charlotte trekked to school, only darting off when the sound of a vehicle approached.

Gio didn't want to raise any alarms by being seen with his mate. It wasn't as if either of them could explain the situation should anyone question them. So, he would briefly take shelter under the shadows of the trees, but he was back at her side as soon as the taillights were gone.

Eventually, the trees thinned and came to a stop just up ahead. They were almost at the schoolyard.

"Bye wolfy," Charlotte said.

Gio's ear twitched in irritation as he veered right and took off into the woods. His long legs covered the distance in the blink of an eye.

Charlotte sighed, psyching herself up before entering the stone school building.

Most of the students ignored her, too wrapped up in themselves and each other. The students here were cliquish. It made sense, most of them had grown up together.

Charlotte scanned the crowd looking for a familiar face. Her eyes locked with Madison's and Madi waved her over. Amelia wasn't with her this time, she was standing with two younger-looking boys.

"Hey girl, how was your weekend? This is my younger brother Bastian and his friend Nathan. Please don't mind them", Madison said, gesturing to the two younger boys, causing Bastian to blush.

"It was good. Hey, nice to meet you," Charlotte said, nodding at the two.

Bastian looked a lot like his sister, they had the same brown hair and gentle features.

Both boys looked up at Charlotte, enamored. Neither seemed brave enough to speak though.

"Come on, I'll walk with you to class," Madi said, sliding a hand around her arm to pull her away from the lockers. "See you, boys, later," she said over her shoulder.

Nathan looked disappointed. Charlotte shot him a smile and a wink as they walked away.

"Sooo, I heard you were going to be here for a while," Madi said slyly.

Charlotte looked at her in confusion. She had no idea what Madi was talking about.

"What do you mean, Mads?"

"Oh....... you don't know?" Madi said. "Forget I said anything."

Madi was in deep s**t for letting that one slip, she realized as soon as she saw her friend's confusion. Charlotte didn't look like she was about to let it go.

"Here's your class, I've got to go," Mad said hurriedly, trying to get out of dodge before Charlotte could question her.

"Wait, Madi what did you mean?" Charlotte asked as Madison turned away to get to her first class.

Charlotte caught her arm before she could slip away.

"What do you mean, Madi?"

Madi seemed torn for a second, eyes darting around to see who might overhear.

"Look, it's just that some people on the town council didn't want you to stay here, but on Friday they decided to allow it." She explained in a quiet rush. "I just.... I thought you knew, I'm sorry." Madi hung her head remorsefully.

Charlotte took a deep breath.

"I see. I did hear something about that, but I didn't know it was such a big deal, at least not big enough for the town council to be involved...."

"It wasn't! It wasn't a big deal, it was just a few people, you know? Small town remember." Madi said quickly, she'd really put her foot in it this time.

Charlotte paused.

"Well, I'm happy that they're ok with me staying," Charlotte said. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you later Mads."

Charlotte walked away still feeling confused. She remembered the conversation her foster parents had with the men who came over her first night there. They had said outsiders weren't welcome and that someone called the alpha would not be happy. From what Madi had said, it seemed like the council was also not happy that she was here, although they had agreed to let her stay.

But what had she done? She literally kept to herself and didn't bother anyone. She hadn't ever spoken to this alpha or to the council, so what was their deal?

Did they think one little foster girl was going to single-handedly destroy their town? She could only imagine what Paul would say if she not only got kicked out of her foster parent's house but the whole gosh darn town.

Charlotte jumped when the bell rang for the next period.

Sighing, she gathered up all of her books and supplies. She was on her way to her locker to get her math book when someone body-checked her. Hard.

Charlotte gasped, looking up at the much taller football player who had slammed into her shoulder. She didn't recognize him personally, but she saw his letterman and patches. It was clear he was on the team.

Another guy came up behind her while she was distracted and yanked her back against his chest by her backpack.

"What do we have here?"He sneered, holding her body against his, much to Charlotte's chagrin.

She squirmed in embarrassment, not daring to look around to see who was there to witness it. Heat rising up her neck in shame. The player behind her laughed, clearly reveling in her discomfort before shoving her forward toward the first guy.

It looked like the forward momentum was going to cause her to fall into the first player's chest, but he grinned and stepped out of the way just in time. Charlotte fell stomach first into the ground, sliding several feet down the hall before coming to a stop.

Their laughter burned her ears as they walked away, congratulating each other on embarrassing her. For a moment she dared look up and saw the two boys sharing a high-five.

Danny was standing next to the lockers staring at her like she was a disappointment. Apparently, he had caught the whole show. He shook his head when she saw her looking and walked off.

Charlotte felt her face flush with shame. She must have been beet red as she hurried to pick up her books and papers that were scattered across the floor. Her backpack had broken while she was being tossed around like a mouse in a cat game and everything had spilled out.

"Need help?" A familiar voice asked.

Charlotte paused, her heart pounding as she slowly looked up. Beautiful green eyes met her own.

Was this her beautiful Greek hero sent to save her at last?

"Here," Carter said, smiling down at her. Charlotte looked to see what he was handing her.

And that's when she saw it.

He had her pencil bag, Chapstick, and emergency TAMPON, all clutched in his hand, and he was offering it to her.

Clearly, there was no god, she thought dryly.

"T-th-thanks," She stuttered, yanking the items from his grasp and stuffing them into what was left of her backpack.

"No need to be embarrassed, I know how it is. I have a little sister." He reassured her after seeing her reaction.

"Oh, yeah." She responded dumbly.

He flashed another smile. Gawd, could he be any cuter?

"Ok, let's go to the principal's office," Carter said, helping her to her feet.

"Oh, I don't think that is necessary... I don't even know those guys names." She protested as Carter led her down the hall.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch who they were either. I only saw the aftermath. I definitely think you should report bullying and I encourage you to do so but that's not why we are going to the principal's office." He told her.

"Oh," Charlotte paused, "Why are we going then?" She asked, confused.

"Because that's where lost and found is and you need a new backpack," he shrugged.

Charlotte was still a little confused as to why they needed to find a new backpack in lost and found but she went with it.

Much to her amazement, the secretary readily handed over the lost and found key to Carter. Although it might have had something to do with Carter flirting and joking with her.

The secretary told them they could keep the key for 15 minutes but then they had to return it which they promised they would.

"Shall we?" Carter asked, holding the door open for her.

It was just a small storage closet with a couple of shelves and a box of stuff at the bottom.

They found one backpack on a shelf and another at the bottom of the box.

"Won't people come looking for their stuff?" Charlotte asked nervously. "I don't want to take anything that belongs to someone else."

"Nah, this stuff is from last year. Most of it just sits here collecting dust until they decide to throw it out." Carter assured her. He knew she couldn't afford a new bag, so he was trying to be helpful and it was true, no one ever claimed this stuff.

"So, which one do you want? Take your pick m'lady." He asked, holding up the two backpacks for her to choose.

"They look the same," Charlotte laughed.

"The true treasure is not the backpack. The true treasure is knowledge." Carter said dramatically.

"Are you quoting Indiana Jones?"

"Maybe." He laughed.

Charlotte grabbed one of the bags at random, rolling her eyes at his antics.

"Good choice," Carter nodded.

They put the rest of the stuff back in the closet and Carter went to return the key while Charlotte started transferring her items into the new bag.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Carter asked.

"Um, go back to class?" She asked, confused.

"We've already missed half of it. Might as well miss the rest." He shrugged. "I can show you the roof. I doubt you've been up there yet."

"What happened to the treasure is knowledge?" Charlotte asked, lifting her brow.

"Yeah, you're right, better get you back to class." He said, grabbing her wrist and dragging her toward the classrooms.

"No, wait!" She squealed. "I want to see the roof."

"If you insist," he grinned, turning on his heel and running in a different direction.

Charlotte laughed, running alongside him, trying to keep up.

They ran up the emergency staircase until the stairs came to a stop at a metal door. Carter pushed it open, waiving Charlotte on.

"Oh wow," she breathed, stepping into the sunlight.

In front of her, there was a little walkway and garden. Some parts of the garden were dead or overgrown but the rest was green and lush. The little roof-top garden seemed semi-abandoned. Or maybe just forgotten.

"Cool, isn't it?" Carter asked, he had been admiring the tiny brunette while she had been admiring the garden.

"Yeah, it's amazing!" Charlotte gushed.

They walked around the roof a little bit so Charlotte could explore, and Carter could point out things here and there.

Eventually, they settled on the edge of the roof. Charlotte was very aware that Carter was sitting so close, their thighs were almost touching.

"I didn't take you as such a rebel when we first met," Charlotte teased.

"I'm not. I just like to have a good time. Life is short, you've got to enjoy it while you can." He answered coyly.

"Yes, it is." She agreed.

There was something so honest and likable about Carter. She felt like she could talk to him forever.

"Carter, can I ask you a question?" Charlotte asked nervously.

"Of course." He nodded.

"Why is everyone so upset with me?" The hurt in her voice was obvious, although she tried to conceal it.

There was a short pause. For a moment Charlotte wondered if she should have kept silent.

"I think they were......expecting you to be gone by now.... They weren't expecting you to stay." Carter answered haltingly. He wasn't sure how to explain what was going on without revealing their secrets.

"Oh."

"But I am very happy you're here." He said, turning to face her. Charlotte was hyper-aware of how close his lips were to hers and her heart started pounding in her ears.

Was he about to kiss her? No way was she going to make the first move.

Just when she thought he was going to close the gap and plant his lips on hers, the bell rang.

Charlotte jumped in surprise.

"We better get to class," Carter said, grinning as he moved away. Charlotte looked up at him, eyes hazy and confused.

What. The. Hell.

Was he teasing her?

Carter helped her up and they started making their way down the stairs when suddenly he stopped.

"Oh, by the way.... My older brother, Kyle, is throwing a party at our house since my parents and little sister will be gone. It's Friday night, you should come."

"Yeah, definitely, I'll be there." She mumbled shyly.

"Great! I'll see you there. Amelia, Madison, and a few others from our class will be there as well." He smiled.

Crap. How was she going to convince her foster parents to let her go?

Charlotte was so excited about what had happened (or almost) happened with Carter that she told the wolf about it on the way home.

Gio's furry ears twitched as he listened to his mate fawn over the boy. He was already pissed from what she had told him about the bullies that day.

"...and then he took me up to the roof and showed me the garden," Charlotte said.

Took her up to the roof? Alone? Gio thought angrily. He did not like that at all.

"I thought for sure he was going to kiss me but then the bell rang." Charlotte laughed, twirling around with surprising grace.

Gio couldn't stop the deep growl that came from his chest. Charlotte was completely oblivious to the rage boiling inside him. He was just grateful the boy himself wasn't here because he would be bleeding on the ground with a broken neck by now. Same with the other two boys.